Infrastructure

Portland Moves Forward with Revised 'Street Fund'

A revised proposal for the "Portland Street Fund," announced this week by the city's political leadership, aims to balance the needs of advocates of alternative transportation and that of the city's business community.

November 11, 2014 - Bike Portland

Dearborn Street Bike Lane

How to Crowdfund a Bike Lane

A PeopleforBikes post explains why the crowdfunding model made sense for a proposed project by the Downtown Denver Partnership to create a protected bike lane on Arapahoe Street.

November 11, 2014 - People for Bikes

Moses, Reprised: An Ambitious Plan for Expanding LaGuardia Airport

John Leland provides coverage of a big idea by Jim Venturi, the son of architects Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi, for the renovation and expansion of LaGuardia International Airport in New York.

November 11, 2014 - New York Times

Colorado Planning for a Water Supply Shortfall of 163 Billion Gallons by 2050

Colorado officials predict a 163-billion-gallon shortfall in its water supply by 2050, and the Continental Divide stands in the way of easy solutions to the challenge.

November 10, 2014 - The Denver Post

Bus Rapid Transit Proposed for Queens to Rockaways Route

New York implemented bus rapid transit with the Select Bus Service, but has yet to develop the kind of busways found in Bogota or Guangzhou. Will a route in Queens deliver the full BRT experience?

November 9, 2014 - Capital New York

Penn Station Interior

Commute Nightmare Awaits Amtrak and New Jersey Transit Passengers

At best, it will take seven years to build the Amtrak Gateway tunnels, the replacement of Access to the Region's Core. If one of the existing two aging tunnels has to be shut to make repairs before the project is completed, commute nightmare ensues.

November 9, 2014 - The Star-Ledger

Metro Map

Los Angeles Breaks Ground on Purple Line Subway Extension


The long awaited groundbreaking for work on Los Angeles’s Purple Line Extension commenced. The project is expected to open in 2023.

November 8, 2014 - The Source

25-Cent Gas Tax Increase Proposed for New Jersey

New Jersey's transportation trust fund is so broke that by next fiscal year, all of it will go toward debt payments. Democratic Assembly Deputy Speaker John S. Wisniewski's legislation would increase the petroleum tax paid by gasoline distributors.

November 8, 2014 - The Star-Ledger

Brookings Study Maps Freight Traffic in the United States

A new report by the Brookings Institution "analyzes domestic and international goods trade data from 2010" toward the goal of better coordinating freight policies and investments between regions.

November 7, 2014 - Brookings Institution

Rail Project on Chopping Block After Voters Reject Gas Tax Indexing

The rollback of gas tax indexing is projected to lose $1 billion for the Bay State over the next decade. Initiative proponents claim that the legislature can increase the gas tax anytime, though last year's tax increase was the first since 1991.

November 7, 2014 - The Boston Globe

Canyon the Grids

Friday Eye Candy: 'Crayon the Grids' City Mapping

Artist-scientist Stephen Von Worley is taking on a new project— mapping the world's city streets based on a complex set of algorithms and psychedelic colors.

November 7, 2014 - Urbanful

Einstein's Bike Shop

Study Ties Bike Infrastructure to Increased Active Commutes

A study led by researchers from the University of North Carolina finds a connection between bike-friendly infrastructure investments and positive public health outcomes.

November 6, 2014 - ScienceDaily

Los Angeles Considering Diagonal Crosswalks

With a plan to add diagonal crosswalks at several intersections in Los Angeles on the table, will the recent shift toward pedestrian friendly streets be enough to make the idea stick?

November 6, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

recycled greywater

U.S. Water Use Hits 45-Year Low

Recent data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the country is using less water even as its population grows.

November 6, 2014 - United States Geological Survey

Campaign 2014 Results: Bay Area Transportation, Land Use, and Soda Tax Measures

Votes exceeded the two-thirds threshold to pass two vital transportation funding measures in San Francisco and Alameda counties. In Berkeley (which passed the nation's first soda tax) and Menlo Park, voters resoundingly reject anti-growth measures.

November 6, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle

The High Revenue Potential of a Mileage-Based Driving Fee

Based on a comparison to a list of federal revenue options to make the Highway Trust Fund sustainable, one stands out far above the others—a mileage-based user fee which, surprisingly, is also one of its disadvantages, writes Eric Jaffe of CityLab.

November 5, 2014 - CityLab

North Carolina DOT to Consider Fees for Developers, Billboard Companies

One of the arguments against sprawl and its variety of manifestations is the large amount of public subsidies, for private benefit, required to make it work. North Carolina will consider a small step in ending the free ride.

November 5, 2014 - Charlotte Observer

One Way Sign

Downtown Denver Converts 18th Street to Two-Way Traffic

Efforts to reshape Downtown Denver to complement the recently re-opened Union Station have now taken to the streets.

November 4, 2014 - The Denver Post

Ohio Takes Two Steps Back on Energy

"After a few years of progress, a new national ranking of state energy efficiency policies confirms that Ohio is now falling fast behind competing states," reports David Beach.

November 3, 2014 - Green City Blue Lake

America's Crumbling Water Infrastructure

The country's aging water infrastructure is growing more wasteful and expensive to fix with every year. What will it take to re-engineer our drinking water supplies?

November 3, 2014 - NPR

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.